Rabi Lamichhane reacquires citizenship certificate

The former deputy prime minister reclaimed his Nepali citizenship after the Supreme Court stripped him of all posts over citizenship.

Kathmandu Post, January 29, 2023, Kathmandu: Former Deputy Prime Minister Rabi Lamichhane on Sunday reacquired his citizenship certificate. Lamichhane received the citizenship certificate from the District Administration Office, Kathmandu after completing the due legal process to regain Nepali citizenship, said Ghanshyam Upadhyaya, Chief District Officer of Kathmandu.

The Supreme Court on Friday had scrapped Lamichhane’s status as a member of the House of Representatives saying that he didn’t have valid Nepali citizenship. The Constitutional Bench said that his failure to re-acquire Nepali citizenship after renouncing his United States citizenship prevented him from becoming a national lawmaker.

Lamichhane had in February 1994 acquired citizenship by descent from the District Administration Office, Kathmandu. Twenty years later, in 2014, he got American citizenship. His Nepali citizenship was automatically scrapped the day he became an American citizen, as per Nepal’s Citizenship Act.

Section 10 of the Act says any Nepali citizen who voluntarily obtains citizenship of a foreign country will automatically lose citizenship of Nepal. The Act also makes it mandatory to apply for reclaim Nepali citizenship if one renounces his/her foreign citizenship. But Lamichhane didn’t apply for Nepali citizenship after renouncing his American citizenship. 

He contested the election of the House of Representatives producing the citizenship acquired in 1994 that had automatically become invalid in 2014 after he got his American citizenship.

https://kathmandupost.com/national/2023/01/29/rabi-lamichhane-reacquires-citizenship-certificate

He was elected the Member of the House of Representatives after winning the November 20 elections from Chitwan constituency 2.